Agenda and minutes

The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting of the Westbury Area Board.

He announced with great sadness the recent death of Cllr Linda Conley, who had represented the Ethandune Division on Wiltshire Council since May 2013, prior to which she had represented the Winsley & Westwood Division since the formation of the new Unitary Authority in May 2009.   She had previously been a Member of West Wiltshire District Council and was portfolio holder in waste management & recycling.  There was to be a private family funeral but there was to be a memorial service which would be held later in November.  All present stood for a minute’s silence as a mark of respect.   

Apologies for absence were received from:

Cllr Alison Irving – Dilton Marsh Parish Council

Cllr Francis Morland – Heywood Parish Council

Ann Dunderdale – White Horse Alliance

Michael Franklin – Wiltshire Fire & Rescue Service

Angus Macpherson – Police & Crime Commissioner  

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 15 August 2013.

Decision

The minutes of the previous meeting held on 15 August 2013 were agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman, subject to the following amendment:-

Minute No 6 – Consultation Launch on Options for a Westbury Campus – Shaping the Future of Westbury Services   To include the following as a final bullet point:-

·         The meeting agreed that the Area Board would endorse the Option selected by the Westbury Community as a result of the consultation process being carried out and  that it would be forwarded to Wiltshire Council’s Cabinet as being the recommendation of the Area Board.

To receive any declarations of disclosable interests or dispensations granted by the Standards Committee.

There were no declarations of interest.

Local junior school pupils will explain the community issues raised by schoolchildren at the Pupils Voice event held earlier in the year.

The Chairman introduced and welcomed local junior school pupils who were attending to make a presentation explaining the community issues raised at the Pupils Voice event held earlier that year.

With the aid of slides, the children explained that a total of 47 pupils from Bitham Brook, Bratton, Chapmanslade, Dilton Marsh, Westbury Leigh & Westbury Junior Schools had met in June for a Pupil Voice event.  This was the first event of its kind in the area and gave pupils a chance to meet others and discuss ideas around the topic ‘My Local Community’, which covered both Westbury town and the villages surrounding it.   The children split into groups and completed a range of activities.

Activity 1 was called Mapping where the children looked at where they were born and for those who knew where their parents and grandparents were born.  They talked about how this might impact on their feeling of belonging to the community.  They looked at reasons for moving into the community some of which were:

·       Working in the armed forces

·       Countryside

·       Jobs

·       New experiences or simply because they liked the area

Activity 2 was looking at ‘What my Community means to me’.  Here the children were asked to think about the following statements:

·       My community means…..

·       Home to me

·       Feeling safe

·       Feeling proud

·       Getting to know the people who live near me

·       Doing activities

·       Knowing all about where I live

The children from each of the schools all chose the following three choices as priorities:

·       Home to me

·       Feeling safe where I live

·       Getting to know the people who live near me

Activity 3 asked ‘How safe do you feel’  Some of the comments were:

·       The Park felt safe to some as it was enclosed but unsafe to others as bigger children hang out there.

·       The shops felt safe because there were lots of people about but some children felt that this also meant there were a lot of strangers.

·       Generally there was a feeling of safety in most of the places.

Activity 4 completion of a Westbury Wishes card  This asked the children to identify three best things in Westbury and three ways to make it better.

The top 10 things were:

·       The White Horse

·       Jitterbugs sweet shop

·       Swimming Pool

·       Shops

·       Parks

·       Friendly, happy place

·       Schools

·       Views and countryside

·       People look after each other

·       After school clubs

The top 10 ways to make Westbury better were:

·       More and better shops

·       Better leisure/activity centre

·       Encourage people to clean up after themselves and their dogs

·       More CCTV, security and street lamps

·       More sweet shops

·       More parks

·       More places to eat – KFC, McDonalds

·       Stop building

·       Keep the woodlands, nature grounds and views

·       Stop graffiti

Finally, the children said that they were all presented with a certificate and also a camera recorder for use in their school in future projects.

At the conclusion of their presentation, the Chairman warmly thanked the children on behalf of the Area Board for attending the meeting with their teachers/parents and sharing their  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

To note the following items for information – written briefing notes are available in the full agenda pack, or online.  If you would like the Area Board to consider or discuss any of these items in more detail, please speak with the Community Area Manager or the Democratic Services Officer.

(a)       Survey - What Matters to You

The Chairman made the following announcement:-

(a)          Survey – What Matters to You

Wiltshire Council and its partners were committed to developing and delivering services that reflect the differing needs of local communities. With this in mind, members of the public were invited to complete a residents’ survey “What matters to you?” Comments and input were very important and would help to shape the future of the local area. For more information about this survey and to complete it online, please visit:  http://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/whatmatterstoyou.htm  Paper copies of the survey form were available in the libraries.

A full report would be produced once the results of the survey had been analysed. The report would be publicly available on the council website www.wiltshire.gov.uk

The survey, one of the biggest ever done in the county, was designed to give residents a real say on a range of topics that affect life where they lived. From issues surrounding community safety to what the council spent its money on to what it was like to live in Wiltshire all the questions were designed so that everyone’s opinion could be counted.

The results would be used by the council and its partners NHS Wiltshire, Wiltshire Fire and Rescue and Wiltshire Police to help develop policies which affected local communities. Surveys would be available on line as well as being freely available in libraries, council offices and leisure centres.

Laura Tarling, Post Office Senior Stakeholder Manager, will give an update on the current situation ref the availability of post office services in the Westbury area.

The Chairman introduced and welcomed Laura Tarling, Post Office Senior Stakeholder Manager, who was attending to give an update on the current situation ref the availability of post office services in the Westbury area.

She explained that refurbishments were due to start the following week at Westbury’s Co-op post office but customers would be able to use a free temporary bus service to enable them to use post office services in Trowbridge.

The bus service would operate on weekdays on the following dates: 24, 25, 28, 29, 30 and 31 October and would run between Westbury Co-op car park and College Road Post Office in Trowbridge. The bus would leave the Co-op at 10am 11am, 12noon, 2pm, 3pm and 4pm.

Posters to advertise the service would be on display at the Post Office and Co-op stores. The refurbished post office was due to re-open on 1 November.
Laura Tarling informed the Area Board that efforts were being made to re-open other sub office services in and around Westbury. Concerns had been raised about the scarcity of post office services as both Dilton and the Ham were shut while the Co-op post office was due to be closed for refurbishment.

To note the attached Partner updates and receive any further information partners wish to share:-

·                Police & Crime Commissioner’s Office

·                Wiltshire Police

·                Wiltshire Fire & Rescue

·                NHS Wiltshire

·                BA13 CAP

·                Youth Advisory Group (YAG)

·                Town/Parish Councils

The Area Board received the following partner and community update reports:-

·                Police & Crime Commissioner’s Office - Kieran Kilgallen (Chief Executive to the Wiltshire and Swindon Police and Crime Commissioner) presented the PCC Public Opinion Survey.

He pointed out that statistics indicated that Westbury was one of the safest areas in Wiltshire but it was appreciated that the public perception of crime rates did not always reflect the actual figures and this was something which required attention.

·                Wiltshire Police – Inspector Alan Webb presented his report and stated that although the performance figures showed an overall reduction in crime, there had been a slight increase in domestic burglaries which included a series of several offences committed by the same person.  There had been a significant reduction in non dwelling burglaries.  He was pleased to confirm that the overall levels of crime and anti-social behaviour for Westbury remained lower than the average for Wiltshire and that Wiltshire remained one of the safest counties in the Country.

·                Wiltshire Fire & Rescue Service – The submitted report was noted.

·                NHS Wiltshire - There was no update.

·                BA13 CAP – The submitted report was noted.

·                Youth Advisory Group (YAG) – The submitted report was noted.

·                Town/Parish Councils – There were no updates.

A member of the Campus Operations Board will give an update on the campus consultation.

Mike Parker, a member of the Community Operations Board (COB) provided an update on the campus consultation.  He informed the meeting that well over 400 people so far had responded by completing the questionnaire on what sort of campus they would like to see in Westbury and it was anticipated that as a result of a publicity and awareness campaign many more residents of Westbury would respond.

It was noted that the consultation, which was due to finish at the end of November, would be publicised in the Christmas in Westbury booklet as well as at local events, community groups, shops and the library. The consultation would also target the village communities where there would be facilities for the return of completed questionnaire forms. Everyone was urged to take the opportunity to help plan where their services would be housed in the future.
The meeting was reminded that the consultation was offering three options – a one site campus (new-build), a two site or three site campus using existing council buildings such as the library. Questionnaires were available online or by picking up a form at Westbury Library.

A presentation will be made by Aimee Stimpson, Associate Director of Public Health, previewing the Joint Strategic Assessment which highlights health and wellbeing issues facing the Westbury community.  This will include a short film on the role of the local authority in public health.

The Chairman introduced and welcomed Aimee Stimpson, Associate Director of Public Health who was attending the meeting to make a presentation on the Joint Strategic Assessment (JSA) highlighting health and wellbeing issues facing the Westbury community.  

By way of introduction, Aimee Stimpson showed a short film explaining the role of the local authority in public health.  She explained that the Public Health Service had come under the control of local authorities with effect from April 2013 by provision made in the Health & Social Care Act 2012.

She went on to explain that a JSA was a new means of examining the current and future wellbeing of the people of Wiltshire.   Community JSA’s would be developed for each Community Area which would provide:-

•         A chance to use evidence to understand issues at a local level

•         Chance to compare with  2011and establish what had changed

•         New chapters added around Leisure and Culture

The whole process would provide a better, punchier and user friendly document.  The JSA would include the latest WMTU survey results, census information and education results.

It was noted that the Community Area JSA programme and timelines was as follows:-

•         Discussed with analysts at Knowledge Management meeting – April 2013, informal meetings had also taken place

•         Letters to thematic leads along with templates and notes – June 2013

•         Meetings with authors – June 2013

•         First drafts by end of September 2013 with text finalised by end of October

•         Proofing October 2013

•         Final versions November 2013

•         Print December 2013

•         Community events in each community area between January and March 2014. The Westbury event was due to be held on Wednesday 26 February 2014 at The Laverton, Westbury.

The community events were planned so as to allow the Westbury community the opportunity to get involved and own the issues.  It was therefore very important that the community events were well supported so as to ensure that outputs and agreed priorities could be agreed during and after the events.

To receive updates on the “Connecting Wiltshire” programme including improvements to rail services in Wiltshire and the new website.  This will include a short DVD.

The Area Board received an update on the “Connecting Wiltshire” programme, including improvements to rail services in Wiltshire and the new website which was illustrated by the showing of a short DVD.  The purpose of this programme was to make planning for a journey in Wiltshire much simpler by bringing details of all forms of transport together, including timetables where available.  It was noted that a new leaflet about walking and cycling should be available in March 2014.  

Further information was available at www.connectingwiltshire.co.uk  

A presentation will be given by TransWilts Community Rail Partnership on improvements that will benefit the Westbury community.

The Chairman introduced and welcomed Sion Bretton and Phil McMullen, Chair and Secretary of the TransWilts Community Rail Partnership who were attending to explain improvements to the rail improvements that would benefit the Westbury community.

 They explained that the TransWilts Community Rail Partnership (TWCRP) was a group of like-minded organisations seeking to make better use of the TransWilts railway line. The partnership aimed to achieve positive, sustainable and imaginative development of the TransWilts railway in ways which also benefitted the places it served, including enhancement of services to meet the current and future travel requirements of those places.

There are three railway lines running east to west through Wiltshire - but only one joining the north of the county to the centre and south, that being the TransWilts line from Swindon and Chippenham, via Melksham, to Trowbridge and Westbury, and onward to Dilton Marsh, Warminster and Salisbury. Swindon and Chippenham in the north, Trowbridge to the west, and Salisbury in the south were the four largest urban centres in the county, and Melksham - between them - was the fifth. However, the train service in recent years had been sparse and ill-suited to the needs of the community who would use it if only there were more convenient and appropriate services for their journeys.

The line was regarded as an essential link for the local communities and businesses along the route, and as part of the projected strategic north - south rail link through an area experiencing major expansion. The TWCRP liaised with all interested parties to promote the social, economic and environmental prosperity of the local communities.  All this had resulted in the probable introduction of a considerably enhanced rail service scheduled to be introduced in December 2013, subject to Wiltshire Council’s Cabinet confirming approval to the necessary funding for the improved service at their next meeting.  At present two trains per day ran between Westbury and Swindon but it was planned to increase this to eight trains each way daily from 9 December 2013. 

The meeting warmly welcomed the introduction of this enhanced service and trusted that it would be widely used. 

A report by the Community Area Manager providing an update on the issues raised at the CATG and actions taken is attached.  This includes Edington funding success for highways project.

The Community Area Manager presented an update on the issues raised at the CATG and the actions which had been taken as set out in the minutes of the CATG meeting held on 4 October 2013.

Decision:

(1)       To approve improved signing at Wellhead Drove junction with Road A350 at a cost of £200.

(2)       To approve the erection of a white village gate on one side of Westbury Road (B3098) at Bratton in order to deter speeding traffic at a cost of £800.

(3)       To approve the funding of £1000 towards the cost of providing two horse gates at the entrance of Wellhead Woods and along the track from the White Horse Equestrian Centre.

(4)       To approve the funding of £2,000 for a review to extend the 30mph speed restriction at Edington.

It was noted that following the approval of the above-mentioned schemes the remaining budget was £11,276.  

A progress report on the adoption of paths, roads and open spaces on Leigh Park is attached.

The Area Board received and noted reports on progress made on the adoption of highways and open spaces on the Leigh Park development.

Consideration was given to a report by the Community Area Manager in which councillors were asked to consider applications for funding from the 2013/14 Area Board Grants Budget.  She then explained each application in turn.

(a)       Dilton Marsh History Society – A Village at War – Digital Archive CD Rom Project

Decision

To approve a grant of £500 towards this project.

Reason

This application meets the grant criteria 2013/14.

(b)       U3A – Purchase of Publicity Equipment

Decision

To approve a grant of £378 towards the purchase of publicity equipment.

Reason

This application meets the grant criteria 2013/14.

The Area Board noted that following the approval of the above-mentioned grants, there was still a grant fund balance of £44,793 which could be spent before 31 March 2014.   

The next meeting of the Westbury Area Board will take place on:

Thursday 12 December 2013 at The Laverton, Westbury BA13 3EN

Future Meeting Dates

Thursday 6 February 2014, at Leigh Park Community Centre, Leigh Park Way, Westbury BA13 3FN

Wednesday 26 February 2014, at The Laverton, Westbury – Presentation on Community Area Joint Strategic Assessments.

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It was noted that the next meeting of the Westbury Area Board would be held on Thursday 12 December 2013 at The Laverton Hall, Westbury, BA13 3EN, starting at 7.00pm.